Best mouse pads for gaming or business

A great mouse mat is a must for gamers, reducing wear on wrists during hours of intensive play. Many modern ones use chemical coatings or specially engineered surfaces to improve sensor accuracy or reduce drag?a boon if you?re doing repetitive motion that requires high accuracy.

(Don't mistake mouse mats for the smaller mouse pads, once an absolute necessity in the era of mechanical mice. Because optical and laser mice can work on so many different kinds of surfaces, the humble mouse pad has largely disappeared.)

Plenty of mouse mat manufacturers exist, but few provide clarity or consistency in describing their products. For example, most don?t report how much friction you?ll encounter when using their mats with the most popular mice. To help you find the best mouse mat for your needs, we?ve tested several from a few different companies that represent a range of surface types (metal, plastic, or cloth) and usage cases (business or gaming).

Yamaha YAS-107 soundbar review: This speaker delivers plenty of bang for the buck

Agents of Mayhem review: Not-so-super heroes

Saint?s Row?s Achilles heel was always combat. It hid this fact by peppering each game with a handful of absurd weapons, from a recliner that fired missiles to the Dubstep gun to the iconic purple dildo bat?still the weapon I most associate with the series.

But even armaments that creative couldn?t hide the fact that combat was often a by-the-book affair. Enemies were brainless, and each encounter involved simply trying to get through it as fast as possible without dying. It?s telling that most of the memorable moments in Saint?s Row had nothing to do with combat, be it the Tron-esque ?Deckers Die? mission, singing Biz Markie in a car with your friends, or an Aerosmith-backed rocket ride into space.

Best gaming keyboards of 2017: Our picks for the top budget, mid-tier, and RGB boards

Choosing a gaming keyboard is a matter of personal taste. One person could be into Cherry Browns and white backlighting. Another might favor Razer Greens and a rippling RGB glow. Gigantic wrist pads, compact shapes, numeric keypads, macro keys, volume controls?a plethora of keyboards exists because everyone wants a different mix of features.

To help you sort through the many options, we?ve sifted through the latest and greatest planks to come up with our top recommendations. All of these are mechanical keyboards, and for good reason?they?re simply more comfortable to use over the long haul. But we?re open-minded, so if we encounter an alternative that works well, you may see it appear on this list. We?ll keep updating it periodically as we test new keyboards.

Amazon has dropped $50 off the Ring Video Doorbell Pro

3 ways tech can improve travel

Traveling is a great chance to put technology through the wringer. It?s a time when you have to be economical about the gear you carry, when your environments challenge you, and when you start seeing places where your devices could go further and do more than they already do.

Last week, my girlfriend and I spent nine days in Iceland (it was supposed to be seven, but a blizzard stranded us for an extra forty-eight hours). During that time we covered roughly half the country, from snowy lava fields in the west to black sand beaches?also with their share of snow?in the south. We carried more than a few pieces of tech with us, which gave us ample time to see what worked well and where we could use some improvement over the status quo.

YouTube TV changes: Can TV streaming services learn to say no?

iPad 2018 rumors: Animoji and tabbed windows on tap

Updated 2/12/18: Mark Gurman of Bloomberg reports that the next iPad with get tabbed windows and an Animoji-ready camera .

When it comes to the tablet market, there?s the iPad and there?s everybody else. Apple dominates the market, especially in the premium price range. To hold on to its position, Apple has been kept things fresh with new models like the 12.9-inch iPad Pro and new technologies like Apple Pencil and ProMotion.

Updated 02/12/18:A report from Bloomberg echos previous rumors that iOS 12 will have fewer new features, focusing on stability and performance. It notes that animoji will come to FaceTime, Siri will be more deeply integrated into the OS, and Do Not Disturb mode will get a few tweaks.

It?s rare that Apple fans cheer a lack of new features in an upcoming product, but that may be the case with the next round of iPhone updates. After a flurry of embarrassing bugs in this year?s release of iOS, Apple is reportedly scaling back its plans for iOS 12 as it shifts its focus to quality and performance. And iPhone users should applaud this decision.

First Look: Unboxing the Apple HomePod

Apple?s HomePod started shipping on Friday, and Macworld got its hands on one. On Friday afternoon, we broadcasted a live unboxing of the HomePod and fielded a ton of great questions from the viewing audience. You can watch a replay of the event in the video above.

Macworld?s Jason Cross is working on the review of the HomePod, so stay tuned to Macworld.com for the latest.